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Another Bridge Accident In OC

OCEAN CITY – Labor Day weekend traffic leaving the resort was snarled for a couple of hours on Monday by a two-car head-on collision on the Route 90 Bridge close to its intersection with Coastal Highway, marking at least the third serious accident on one of the main access points to Ocean City this summer.

Around noon on Monday, an unidentified driver heading westbound on Route 90 near its intersection with Coastal Highway drifted into the eastbound lane and collided nearly head-on with another vehicle heading into the resort. The two occupants in the westbound vehicle, including the driver and a passenger, along with two occupants in the eastbound vehicle, were taken to the hospital with undisclosed injuries, none of which appeared to be life-threatening, according to Ocean City police spokesman Mike Levy.

Levy said the westbound vehicle drifted over into the eastbound lane and struck the other vehicle nearly head-on. The accident closed the bridge for about two hours on Monday afternoon, snarling traffic leaving the resort area after the long holiday weekend. Levy said on Tuesday the investigation was ongoing and charges were pending against the unidentified westbound driver. The status of those injured had not been made public as of mid-week.

Monday’s accident on Route 90 continued a summer-long pattern of series accidents in different areas along the highway and its two bridges entering the resort. On Aug. 19, Route 90 was closed in both directions for over an hour after an alleged drunk driver rear-ended a vehicle stopped at a red traffic signal at St. Martin’s Neck Rd. at the Isle of Wight.

According to police reports, an allegedly intoxicated Fruitland man heading east on Route 90 in a Honda Accord failed to reduce speed while approaching the red traffic signal and ran into the back of another vehicle stopped at the light. The force of the collision caused the vehicle to lunge forward and strike an electrical box, causing a power outage in the area.

On July 5, a four-car pile-up on the Route 90 bridge sent eight people to area hospitals with serious injuries when a Toyota 4runner heading west failed to reduce its speed enough to avoid a collision with another vehicle, which had stopped suddenly on the span because of holiday traffic leaving the resort after the Fourth of July weekend. The rear-end collision forced the struck vehicle into another vehicle in front of it. The third vehicle in the domino-style crash was then forced into the eastbound lane where it collided with another vehicle before striking the guard rail on the opposite side.